FIRstView – Enhanced Real-Time Thermography for Field NDI

Enhanced Inspection

Problem Statement: Nondestructive Inspection (NDI) at the field level is the number one readiness degrader for DoD fixed and rotary wing aircraft*. Several critical inspections are manual, imprecise or time-consuming. Thermographic NDI (TNDI) is an effective inspection tool at the depot level. However, the cost, size, power consumption and complexity of current TNDI systems make them impractical for rapid deployment in field applications where electrical power may not be available or space constraints limit access to the inspection area. Although simple systems may address cost or footprint requirements, they lack sufficient detection sensitivity and provide subjective results that rely heavily on interpretation by the inspector. Existing battery-operated systems are unable to provide sufficient excitation for reliable NDI over the duration of an inspection.

A compact, battery-operated TNDI system that simplifies interpretation for the operator is required to address DOD field inspection requirements.

Our Solution: FirstView is a handheld, battery operated TNDI system that provides results to the inspector in real-time. The power unit can be worn as a backpack or mounted in a small roll-along case, and the lightweight imaging head (3 lbs) reduces operator fatigue common to COTS systems. Signal processing enhances subsurface defect indications and compensates for operator jitter and surface emissivity variations.

Benefits to the DOD:

• Improved safety and airworthiness – FirstView’s small footprint and self-contained configuration will allow replacement of imprecise coin-tap inspection with full-field thermography in areas of the aircraft or ships where physical access is limited (e.g. ducts, bladders, bulkheads) or electrical power is not available
• Rapid response to unscheduled maintenance events – Portable system can be transported as carry-on baggage or stowed as onboard kit for emergency inspections
• Cost savings – Reduced inspection man-hours and time-on-ground as a result of continuous scanning and on-the-spot processing and analysis
• Lower investment cost – The use of COTS components and low-cost excitation and IR cameras make FirstView significantly less expensive than existing thermography solutions.

Innovation Challenges: Configuration for new inspection tasks requires coordination of scan rate and sensor-to-surface distance with material properties of the part. This procedure should be automated and made transparent to the operator.

Technical Maturity/Demonstration Results: FirstView has been successfully demonstrated on DoD samples in simulated field environments with composite impact damage, trapped water in honeycomb sandwich structures and corrosion under paint, using the scanning and spotlight configurations. It is currently TRL 6 and expected to be TRL 7 by Q4 2025.

* Maintenance and Availability Data Warehouse: A Cross-Cutting Case Study OSD71C1/Jul 2017. p3-7

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